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Arsenal legend Lauren to visit Kenya

Lauren will be the Guest of Honour during the last two days of the Arsenal coaches training clinic at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies involving coaches from the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) and the National Super League (NSL).

NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 5 – Arsenal legend and Olympic Gold medalist Lauren Bisan Etamé-Mayer is expected in the country on Thursday to join The North London club’s community trainers who are conducting a coaching clinic in Kenya.

The former Cameroon international spent six seasons at the North London club, having arrived in the Summer of 2000 from Spanish side Mallorca, just after leading the Indomitable Lions to the Olympic Gold medal in Sidney Australia.

He was a key member of the ‘Invincibles’ Arsenal squad which won the English Premier League with a 49 game unbeaten run in the 2003/2004 season, his second league title in England having also lifted the coveted silverware in the 2001/2002 season.

The Cameroonian went on to win three FA Cup titles and two Community Shields with Arsene Wenger’s side before ending his career with Portsmouth and Cordoba CF in Spain.

Lauren will be the Guest of Honour during the last two days of the Arsenal coaches training clinic at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies involving coaches from the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) and the National Super League (NSL).

The training, the second of its kind is organized by KPL title sponsors SportPesa who are also the official Arsenal betting partner in Africa.

The Arsenal community coaches at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies on Monday morning as the coaches clinic began. PHOTO/COURTESY

The first training camp was conducted in May and involved grassroot coaches with another Arsenal legend Sol Campbell being the Guest of Honour.

Arsenal community coaches Drew Tyler, James Colinese and Jonny Georgiou are conducting the week-long course. Tyler was part of the May camp while Colinese and Georgiou will be coming in for the first time.

“We are looking forward to the training camp and to help develop football in Kenya. It’s important to be working closely with the local premier league coaches and for us to gain further understanding of their current levels and individual outlooks on the game,” Colinese, who will be tasked with leading the program said during the launch on Monday morning.

“Train a coach well and you have automatically improved the game of like 20 players at one-go. That is why we have taken a wholesome approach to ensure that our coaches also get proper lessons on what works best in this game,” the league sponsors CEO Ronald Karauri added during the launch.

Aside from being trained on talent identification, the course, which comprises of both practical and theory lessons, will also focus on defensive play and conditioning.

A lover of sports who seeks to tell the African story in an African way. Top ten finalist of the Abu Dhabi Sports Media Pearl Awards. Be it on the pitch, court, track, pool or course, the story will be told. On twitter @KakaTimm